Carrie and Elyse went to a panel on the Gothic Resurgence at RT, and afterwards, Carrie described this movie as “kinda Gothic!” and I thought “Hm, let’s do a science.” Reader, READER, it’s sort of yes but also a bunch of other things and mostly this movie is just a lot of wasted potential and also Emma Watson’s eyebrow acting. Emma Watson is Mae, a girl from a lower class (working? Blue collar? lower middle … Continue reading Movie Review: The Circle →
TW: discussion of rape and sexual assault I’ve felt like I’ve had a vitamin deficiency for the past few months, and I finally realized what I needed to correct it. I needed crazysauce. I needed banana-crackers. Luckily, two people came to my aid to recommend something. Ellen DeGeneres took Michelle Obama to CVS to help re-introduce her to civilian life, and they stopped by the bookshelf, and pulled Lady Pirate off the shelf. Michelle was dubious, … Continue reading Lady Pirate by Lynsay Sands →
Perfectly Charming began as a perfectly serviceable contemporary romance about a woman who goes through a painful divorce from her since-high-school boyfriend in a small Mississippi town, takes some money she inherited from a close friend who died of cervical cancer, and finds herself a contract nurse position in a hospital in Pensacola, Florida, on the beach, far from everyone sticking their well-intentioned but overbearing and pitying noses in her business. I liked the setup, and while … Continue reading Perfectly Charming by Liz Talley →
The problem with The Legend of Tarzan is that the Tarzan mythos is a tale so steeped in racism, colonialism, and jingoism, that it’s impossible to adapt for a modern audience without being problematic. The movie tries, it really does, but even if you’re just here for the Adonis belts, there’s still so much WTFery present that I can’t take the movie seriously, at all. The movie opens after Tarzan aka John Clayton III, Earl of … Continue reading The Legend of Tarzan →
(Trigger warning for rape that’s supposed to be romantic) Let’s rap a bit about rape! When is rape ever okay as a romantic fantasy? The way you answer this question will largely determine how you feel about Say My Name. You might guess by my grade how I feel about it. Old Skool romances in the 1970s and 80s were rife with sexual assault for a variety of reasons, as nicely summed up by Candy … Continue reading Say My Name by J. Kenner →
TL;DR: If you want to pretend that you’re getting fuzzy warm equality feels, but actually like stereotyping gay men, this is an A+ gold star book. The story is competent. There are cute moments. It’s hot. I get why this is a RITA finalist and why there are a bunch of squeeing reviews on Amazon. If you’re at all remotely anywhere on the queer spectrum, or, you know, if you’re an actual ally? You might … Continue reading Him by Elle Kennedy and Sarina Bowen →
If one ought to approach the New Year with the philosophy, “Begin as you mean to go on,” I am supremely fucked. I blame the unholy trinity of my friends Maya, Kevin, and Kayleigh for this. Maya found it, Kayleigh tagged me on it, and Kevin cackled and then I read it and I am SO MAD. This was AWFUL. It wasn’t hilaribad, it wasn’t so entertainingly bad, it was just incomprehensibly bad. No one … Continue reading Her Stepbrothers Are Dragons by Trinity Blacio →
There are friends who will help you move (I have those) and friends who will help you move bodies (I can neither confirm nor deny if I have any of those) (I do), and then there are friend who say “I found this book and I think it’s gonna make you bleed from your eyeballs, you need to read it!” I have the best friends. So this is a truly terrible shifter book. What I’m … Continue reading Werehipsters by Stikki Minaj →
This book is an erotic contemporary romance that tells the story between Angie/Lina/Angelina and Evan. They know each other for years, they are in lust from the get go, but the resolution of their story is so choppy that you finish the book with the feeling than in a couple of years there is going to be a nasty divorce. So… not good, not good. The book kicks-off in the middle of a funeral for … Continue reading Wanted by J. Kenner →
This guest review is from Gloriamarie. As she described herself, she’s a fan of the original 50 Shades of Grey series: “I actually loved the original trilogy… read it four times. I understood the theme of the original trilogy to be the redemption of Christian Grey, abused as a toddler and sexually molested as an adolescent, however much he enjoyed the latter. I came to it late and never actually understood the bit about it being … Continue reading Guest Review: Grey by EL James, Reviewed by Gloriamarie →
Long back story shortish: Many millennia ago a group of warriors stole the dim Ouniak from the gods of the Greek variety and opened it. Why did they do this? To teach said gods a lesson – because that always turns out well. Their widdle feelings got hurt when a female warrior was picked to guard the box – that would be Pandora. Pride, as they say, goeth before a fall and now, I believe, … Continue reading The Darkest Touch by Gena Showalter →
